A Design Education Manifesto

Purpose: “…how to go through a design program and get the most out of the experience, and beyond as a creative professional.”

Manifesto

A Design Education Manifesto (selected highlights)

Always take risks.

You should be pushing yourself and you should be taking risks, especially in school. Big risks. Trying what may not work. Asking questions that may not have answers. Seeing if what you throw against the wall sticks.

Be aggressive.

Some professors will push their knowledge on you. Others will make you pull what you need from them. Ask questions of both. Challenge their statements. Ask for precedents.

Break the rules.

Defying the rules forces you to stray from the path of least resistance and ultimately make work that is more interesting, more meaningful and more fun to create.

Look at everything. Dismiss nothing.

Everything has potential to be interesting and influential. Not everything will be, but the more you see the better your chances are at seeing something that will be useful to you.

Be obsessive.

Obsession is what drives you to explore and find out as much as possible about something that interests you.

Be uncomfortable.

It is easy to get into the habit of making the kind of work you are comfortable making. Truly great, interesting, inspiring design comes not from comfort but from discomfort.

Be opinionated.

You should have opinions about design and the world around you. Preferably, you should have strong opinions. Ideally, you should have strong and informed opinions.

Be a cop.

A designer needs to act like a cop. When you are a designer, you are a designer 24/7/365. Always noticing, always observing, always designing, even if only in your head.